Sunday Sundries
Miscellaneous items I found of interest during the week.
Stuff The British Stole
A podcast series about the not-so-polite history behind those objects.
A Toolkit for Archivists and Librarians Supporting Research and Teaching in Digital Humanities
NARA – Annual Online Genealogy Series
May 21 and 28, June 4, 18 and 25
Wouldn’t it be a joy if LAC took a leaf from NARA’s book!
1922: A Year Like No Other
In the UK and beyond
Thanks to this week’s contributors: Anonymous, Chuck B, Sunday Thompson, Teresa, Unknown.
Findmypast Weekly Update
Here are this week’s additions
Scotland Deaths, 1855-2024
497,172 Scottish death record transcriptions
England & Wales Deaths, 2007-2024
225,815 Welsh death records
Northern Ireland Deaths, 1980-2024
28,292 Northern Irish additions
AND
45 new and updated newspaper titles…over 400,000 pages.
The source of the death data is shown in the copyright notice at the end of the transcription to be © MiExact Ltd. A British company providing mortality data, MiExact Ltd was founded in 1985. It was a part of Wilmington plc, that company name was previously given as the source, MiExact Ltd was sold to Information Services Bidco Limited in January this year, the business to continue to be run by the existing management team.
The company address, 3rd Floor, 100 Wigmore Street, London, United Kingdom, W1U 3RN, is that of Private equity investor Foundation Investment Partners.
The sources MiExact use probably include newspaper obits and probate filings. However, the company is unclear about sources, be cautious.
MyHeritage adds New Brunswick Births, 1801-1921
New Brunswick is one of the provinces that’s fairly open with its recprds of genealogical interest. Now, MyHeritage offers the convenience of accessing 1,130,755 birth records between 1801 and 1921. Records typically include the name of the child, date and place of birth, and the names of the parents.
It’s instructive to explore the contents. How many records are there by year.
There are 33 in 1800, very few until 1860, a double peak at the end of the 18th and beginning of the 20th centuries, and the odd entry to 1950.
As described in the FamilySearch Research Wiki, the provincial government began recording births, as well as marriages and deaths, in 1888. Prior to that date there are a mix of sources, notably County Register of Births, 1801-1920.
In 1850, of the 72 entries there are people with birthplace listed in Australia, England, France, Ireland, Netherlands, New Zealand, Portugal, São Tomé and Príncipe, Scotland, and United States of America. I’m guessing these are not New Brunswick’s attempt to expand its jurisdiction!
Ancestry adds Web: Scotland, Crown Counsel Procedure Books Index, 1822-1877
Do you know what’s in a Crown Counsel Procedure Book? The index, from Scottish Indexes, is the latest addition to Ancestry.
This short video gives a excellent explanation.
FamilySearch Updates: UK, Ireland and Canada
Here are the new and updated collections from FamilySearch since the start of the month. All but the three with the number of records highlighted have linked images available at a FamilySearch Centre or Affiliate Library.
Collection Title
|
Records
|
Last Updated
|
|
---|---|---|---|
Canada, Quebec Census, 1861 |
1,094,774
|
15 May 2024 |
|
Canada Passenger Lists, 1881-1922 |
3,907,325
|
15 May 2024 |
|
Canada, Prince Edward Island Death Card Index, 1721-1905 |
16,686
|
15 May 2024 |
|
Canada, Ontario Roman Catholic Church Records, 1760-1923 | 14 May 2024 |
|
|
Canada, Nova Scotia Church Records, 1720-2001 |
215,258
|
13 May 2024 |
|
Canada, Nova Scotia Census, 1861 |
57,453
|
13 May 2024 |
|
Canada, New Brunswick County Registers of Births, ca. 1812-1919 |
51,575
|
13 May 2024 |
|
Canada, New Brunswick Late Registration of Births, 1810-1899 |
24,067
|
13 May 2024 |
|
Canada, Upper Canada Census, 1842 |
20,851
|
13 May 2024 |
|
Canada Census, 1901 |
5,343,565
|
11 May 2024 |
|
Canada, Quebec Catholic Parish Registers, 1621-1979 |
79,535
|
8 May 2024 |
|
LAC: Documentary Heritage Communities Program
Projects being funded in the 2024-2025 cycle of the Documentary Heritage Communities Program (DHCP) are now posted.
The total granted is $1.47 million. The media is $47K. The largest is $60K to the Centre d’archives régional des Îles for Building families on remote island regions: commemoration with the theme of health.
The awards cover a wide range of projects, from digitization and preservation of historical documents to oral history projects and increasing digital access to archives. This reflects a comprehensive approach to preserving cultural heritage.
The funding is distributed across all regions of Canada, including remote and underserved areas such as the Northwest Territories, Nunavut, and Yukon. On a per capita basis the Territories top the list.
Some projects that are national in scope are categorized as Ontario and Quebec.
While several historical societies received funding no genealogical societies are listed.
GPT-4o
Steve Little, AI Program Director for the National Genealogical Society (US) who will be at the OGS Conference, posted a review on this new free facility from Open AI.
He terms it a “Game-Changer for Free AI Access, Possible Handwritten Text Recognition (HTR) Advance.” “The most significant beneficiaries of this release are undoubtedly the free users. In a move that disrupts the status quo, OpenAI is rolling out features previously reserved for ChatGPT Plus subscribers.”
In the post on his AI Genealogy Insights blog he tabulates the number of errors in a handwritten probate record transcription. GPT-4o had 9 errors, compared to 17 for GPT-4 and 22 for FamilySearch.
However, on Facebook, Judy Russell recorded getting an entirely different transcription from GPT-4o– of an entirely different document — not the one uploaded. Discussion suggested the document might have been too long or the handwriting difficult. Beware!
Ancestry adds Web: England, Cricket Players, 1845-2024
This small, 1,474 item, database is a delight for those with nostalgia for cricket. Findout about the careers of Len Hutton, Peter May, Jim Laker and Tony Lock, not forgetting Freddie Trueman. Generations back there’s W. G. Grace and A. N. Hornby.
This Week’s Online Genealogy Events
Choose from selected free online events in the next five days. All times are ET except as noted. Assume registration in advance is required; check so you’re not disappointed. Find out about many more mainly US events at Conference Keeper at https://conferencekeeper.org
Tuesday, 14 May
2 pm: Ottawa Virtual Genealogy Drop-In, for OGS Ottawa Branch.
https://ottawa.ogs.on.ca/events/virtual-genealogy-drop-in-2-2024-05-14/
2 pm: A Closer Look at the 1850-1950 U.S. Census Records, with a Little Extra Help, by Diane Henriks for Legacy Family Tree Webinars.
https://familytreewebinars.com/webinar/a-closer-look-at-the-1850-1950-us-census-records/
2:30 pm: Discover Your Veteran’s WWII Story (US), by Rebecca Poole for Allen County Public Library Genealogy Center.
https://acpl.libnet.info/event/10546480
7:00 pm: A New Look at FamilySearch and Online Records, by Julia A. Anderson for OGS Essex County Branch.
https://essex.ogs.on.ca/meetings/essex-branch-may-webinar/
7 pm: Family Tree Maker, by Mark Olson for OGS Lambton Branch.
https://lambton.ogs.on.ca/
Wednesday, 15 May
2 pm: Forgotten Records: The Record and Pension Office (US), by Craig R Scott for Legacy Family Tree Webinars.
https://familytreewebinars.com/webinar/forgotten-records-the-record-and-pension-office/
2:30 pm: Where there’s a will, there’s a lawyer: using solicitor records for family research, by Trisha O’Reilly for the Guild of One-Name Studies.
https://one-name.org/solicitorrecords/
Thursday, 16 May
6:30 pm: Cemetery Etiquette and Iconography, by Lillian Wingate for Allen County Public Library Genealogy Center.
https://acpl.libnet.info/event/10546493
7 pm: On The Wright Track: Memories from C.P.R. School Car #2, by Bonnie Sitter for OGS Sault Ste Marie & District of Algoma Branch.
https://saultanddistrict.ogs.on.ca/events/sault-ste-marie-district-of-algoma-branch-sponsored-on-the-wright-track-memories-from-c-p-r-school-car-2-bonnie-sitter
7 pm: The River Runners, by Daryl Learn for OGS Niagara Branch.
https://us02web.zoom.us/meeting/register/tZ0scumvqDoqHtH_l9WaxcfbATQf_JMFCUIO
Friday, 17 May
2 pm: The Mexican National Archive (AGN): A Resource for Genealogists, by Nefi Arenas Salazar for Legacy Family Tree Webinars.
https://familytreewebinars.com/webinar/the-mexican-national-archive-agn-a-resource-for-genealogists/
Saturday, 18 May
10 am: After You’re Gone: Future Proofing Your Genealogy Research, by Thomas MacEntee for OGS Kingston Branch. Kingston.ogs.on.ca
1 pm: Reading Handwriting & Creating Transcriptions, by Cheryl Levy for OGS Quinte Branch.
https://quinte.ogs.on.ca/events/reading-handwriting-creating-transcriptions-with-cheryl-levy/
MyHeritage Photo Scanner
Now available, a powerful, state-of-the-art Photo Scanner on the MyHeritage mobile app! Scan entire album pages or multiple loose photos in a single tap.
I gave it a trial. It picked out the images, which weren’t aligned, and straightened them. It estimated the date it was taken, for a great uncle about 15 years off. The images were then available for automated repairing, enhancing, colourizing and even animating, all on the MyHeritage smartphone app. Simple.
Family Tree Magazine: June 2024
With the 80th anniversary the Normandy Landings in June, the cover photo and the article by military family historian Simon Fowler “Tracing ancestors in the British armed forces in WWII” are timely.
The situation for individual military service files is in flux as they are gradually being transferred to TNA. Online find war diaries for troops who landed on 6 June 1944 at Ancestry and operation record books for RAF squadrons via TNA’s website. TNA has a good WW2 guide. For records for those who died start with the CWGC.
Also featured on the front cover are:
Marriages and Maps: Tracking Down Elusive Ancestors
Wayne Shepheard explains how combining parish records and 19th-century maps proved key to establishing the identities of two of his most elusive family members.
.
Sneaking Up on a Brick Wall
Persistence, a new research approach, and a smattering of well-earned genealogical good luck saw family historian Peter
Day smashing down a brick wall that he’d been faced with for the past 15 years. He shares how he succeeded in the end…
DNA Workshop: Quick and Dirty Trees
DNA guru Karen Evans shows how to collect family history information quickly and the advantages of doing so.
The issue became available on 10 May; access free online in Canada through your public library.